On Thursday, September 21 at 11:30A.M., U.S. Representative Nick Smith
(R-MI), Chairman of the House Science Subcommittee on Basic Research, will
speak at a press conference on biotechnology and the unethical tactics of
some biotechnology critics. The press event, a joint project of the National
Center For Public Policy Research and Junkscience.com, will be held in room
1302 in the Longworth House Office Building.

Congressman Smith is one of the leading congressional champions of the
promising new science of agriculture biotechnology. In April, his subcommittee
released an in-depth study, "Seeds of Opportunity," that extols
the safety of biotechnology and its potential to feed millions of people
in the developing world.

Anti-biotechnology critics such as Greenpeace and other environmental
groups have chosen to spread fear and misinformation about biotechnology
as part of their anti-technology ideological agenda. Greenpeace as well
as other anti-biotechnology groups are clients of the for-profit public
relations firm, Fenton Communications. Fenton Communications has a long
history of orchestrating scare campaigns on behalf of various left-leaning
groups such as the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Command Trust
Network and the National Environmental Trust. In August, the National Center
For Public Policy Research and Junkscience.com released a study, "The
Fear Profiteers," detailing Fenton Communications's history of using
unsound science to spread fear among the public for its own financial gain.
The study examines Fenton Communications's central role in the Alar scare
in 1989, the silicone implant scare in the early 1990s, the endocrine disrupter
"crisis" and the current anti-biotechnology campaign.

"It would be a tragedy if Fenton Communications and its clients
are successful in thwarting the development of biotechnology just when it
is ready to yield great benefits," says John Carlisle, director of
the Environmental Policy Task Force at the National Center For Public Policy
Research. "Biotechnology can substantially increase agricultural productivity
in the developing world by making it possible to grow crops in areas that
cannot currently sustain them. With the help of bioengineered seeds that
'vaccinate' crops with their own herbicides and pesticides, crop losses
to diseases and insects can be minimized. This also allows farmers to use
no-till farming which can reduce erosion of topsoil by as much as 98%."

African leaders have spoken out forcefully on behalf of biotechnology
and criticized groups such as some Fenton Communications clients for trying
to derail the technology. Kenya's President, Daniel T. arap Moi, says "the
international community is on the verge of the biotechnology revolution
which Africa cannot afford to miss." Nigeria's Minister of Agricultural
and Rural Development, Hassan Adamu, says environmentalists "claim
to have the environment and public health at the core of their opposition,
but scientific evidence disproves their claims... If we take their alarmist
warnings to heart, millions of Africans will suffer and possibly die."

Says Carlisle: "Because there is so much as stake, especially for
the developing world, it is vital that biotechnology proponents speak out
often and forcefully against the likes of profiteers who seek to profit
by trashing this dynamic technology. The National Center and Junkscience.com
are proud to have a voice of reason in Congressman Nick Smith who has taken
the lead in defending biotechnology."

In addition to Congressman Smith, other speakers include Steve Milloy
of Junkscience.com, Fred Smith of the Competitive Enterprise Institute,
Alex Avery of the Hudson Institute and Dr. Bonner Cohen of the Lexington
Institute.

The National Center For Public Policy Research is a non-partisan, non-profit
educational foundation based in Washington, D.C. For more information, contact
John Carlisle at 202-507-6398 or [email protected].